539 – The Impact of Combat Psychic Trauma on Sexuality

Abstract

Objectives:

Combatants with PTSD demonstrate a considerable change of personal characteristics but changes related to sexuality are barely studied though this area determines adaption to microsocium, helps establish emotional relationships and so on. Correlations between combat-related PTSD symptoms and sexuality are indistinct.

Method:

We studied interrelation between sexuality as a central I-function and PTSD symptoms using ISTA test and The Mississippi Scale within the group consisting of 682 male combatants among which 149 respondents had expressed PTSD symptoms and 533 men had subclinical symptoms.

Results:

Sexuality in combatants with PTSD was characterized by rising destructive manifestations, deficit of constructive forms and constancy of deficiency. The group with subclinical PTSD symptoms showed insignificant rise in destructive activity compensated by increase of constructive components of sexuality while its deficiency components demonstrated considerable fall.

Conclusions:

Combatants displayed malfunction in sexual sphere characterized by resort to abnormal and unaccepted norms, such sexual activity is often offensive both to partners and combatants and can result in sexual abuse. Personal disposition to establish relationships and derive enjoyment from intercourse is damaged at different levels and sometimes is retarded. These abnormalities are conditioned by intensity of manifested PTSD symptoms and may be part of other combat-related PTSD symptoms, such as impulsivity, aggression and others. Low values of PTSD indicate that combatants are apt to reduced prohibitions in sexual activity and moderate tendency to sexual abuse, but these trends are hypercompensated by an ability to establish mature sensual relationships and by understanding needs at different levels.